Common Misdiagnoses and Brain metastases

Undiagnosed stroke leads to misdiagnosed aphasia: BBC News UK reported on a man who
had been institutionalized and treated for mental illness
because he suffered from sudden inability to speak.
This was initially misdiagnosed as a "nervous breakdown" and other mental conditions.
He was later diagnosed as having had a stroke, and suffering from aphasia (inability to speak),
a well-known complication of stroke (or other brain conditions).

Dementia may be a drug interaction: A common scenario in aged care is for
a patient to show mental decline to dementia.
Whereas this can, of course, occur due to various medical conditions,
such as a stroke or Alzheimer's disease,
it can also occur from a side effect or interaction between multiple drugs
that the elderly patient may be taking.
There are also various other possible causes of dementia.

Spitz nevi misdiagnosed as dangerous melanoma skin cancer: One possible misdiagnosis to
consider in lieu of melanoma is spitz nevi.
See melanoma and spitz nevi.

Mild traumatic brain injury often remains undiagnosed: Although the symptoms
of severe brain injury are hard to miss,
it is less clear for milder injuries, or even those causing a mild concussion diagnosis.
The condition goes by the name of "mild traumatic brain injury" (MTBI).
MTBI symptoms can be mild, and can continue for days or weeks after the injury.
See the symptoms of MTBI or misdiagnosis of MTBI.

MTBI misdiagnosed as balance problem: When a person has symptoms
such as vertigo or dizziness, a diagnosis of brain injury may go overlooked.
This is particularly true of mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI), for which the
symptoms are typically mild. The symptoms has also relate to a relatively
mild brain injury (e.g. fall), that could have occurred days or even weeks ago.
Vestibular dysfunction, causing vertigo-like symptoms, is a common complication
of mild brain injury.
See causes of dizziness, causes of vertigo, or misdiagnosis of MTBI.

Post-concussive brain injury often misdiagnosed: A study found that soldiers who had
suffered a concussive injury in battle often were misdiagnosed on their return.
A variety of symptoms can occur in post-concussion syndrome and these were not being correctly
attributed to their concussion injury.
See introduction to concussion.

Children with migraine often misdiagnosed: A migraine often fails to be
correctly diagnosed in pediatric patients.
These patients are not the typical migraine sufferers, but migraines can also occur in children.
See misdiagnosis of migraine or introduction to migraine.

About misdiagnosis:

When checking for a misdiagnosis of Brain metastases
or confirming a diagnosis of Brain metastases,
it is useful to consider what other
medical conditions might be possible misdiagnoses or other alternative
conditions relevant to diagnosis.
These alternate diagnoses of Brain metastases may already have
been considered by your doctor or may need to be considered as possible
alternative diagnoses or candidates for misdiagnosis of Brain metastases.
For a general overview of misdiagnosis issues for all diseases,
see Overview of Misdiagnosis.

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